Why I vote and why you should too
Your voice matters, so make it heard
“Voting is our civic duty.” This sort of rationale can seem awfully abstract to a graduate student who has multiple class assignments due this week and is being hounded by their advisor about an impending paper deadline. Taking time out of your busy day to register, apply for an absentee ballot, research candidates, and go […]
Finding a Cambridge coffee home
An inner journey in pursuit of good coffee
* Writer’s Note (September 2020): Wow, how things have changed. Re-reading this piece, which as written pre-COVID, makes me feel as if I’m now in my late seventies, looking back fondly upon the simpler times of my youth. Ironically, I write this note while drinking jasmine tea, alone in my garden, which evinces of just […]
How I came to Cambridge before I came to Cambridge
Lessons I learned as a newly accepted student during a pandemic
I could finally see the finish line. If you were to ask me five months ago where I would be by Aug 10, 2020, I’d have said “in Boston” without blinking an eye. But guess what: COVID-19 spoiled my plans, and here I am, still in Mexico. To be honest, it was a bummer, mostly […]
Beer in class—but peers afar
Navigating the Freedom and Isolation of Virtual MIT
I sat in class, the professor again repeating the technique we were expected to learn but about which I was still woefully confused. I was immediately struck with self-doubt. I put my head down on the desk and started to cry. The small upside was that at least no one could see my meltdown. Because […]
From rockets to rocking chairs
Sitting in a rocking chair holding a baby wasn’t how I expected to kick off graduate school
Lots of things have changed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Classes have moved online, schedules have shifted for fall breaks and holidays, and in general, everyone’s life has been altered. Personally, I had planned on moving to Cambridge in August to start pursuing my Ph.D. in MIT and Harvard’s Health Sciences and Technology (HST) […]
